REDD+ Governance in Papua New Guinea

In the current political economy which seeks to commodify nature and market its services, market-based mitigation measures, like the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program, have become prominent strategies to address climate change. The REDD+ program places an economic value on the carbon stored in forests and offers incentives for developing countries to reduce their emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. REDD+ has been promoted as an effective and cost-efficient solution to climate change that has additional benefits for conservation, economic development and poverty alleviation. However, the development of REDD+ in Papua New Guinea (PNG) highlights some of the governance challenges and inequalities that can arise from marketbased mitigation measures. This paper will use a politics of scale perspective to critically analyse the governance of REDD+ in PNG and the inequalities that can emerge from such projects. It will be argued that REDD+ acts as a form of global climate governance which is implemented on a national scale but has the greatest impact on local communities implicated in REDD+ projects. This paper will investigate the April-Salumei Sustainable Forest Management Project, PNG’s first pilot REDD+ project, to illustrate how the current governance system prioritises global mitigation benefits and national economic interests over local livelihoods. While good governance has been identified as a foundational pillar for the success of REDD+, the current governance system has a number of weaknesses that may threaten the legitimacy and effectiveness of REDD+ efforts. A politics of scale perspective allows us to examine the governance challenges and inequalities generated by the REDD+ program in PNG. REDD+ offers an important development opportunity for PNG, but significant governance and equity issues still need to be overcome.